Jason Terry had missed six consecutive 3-point attempts, but during a timeout late in the third overtime Sunday night he told Paul Pierce he was going to make his next one.

“No question,” Terry said. “I told him and whoever else wanted to listen. That's just my motto. That's just how I've been. When a game like that is so mentally draining, you have to stay into it.”

So Pierce passed Terry the ball and he drained a 25-footer to break a 113-113 tie with 1:33 left and the Celtics went on to beat Denver, 118-114, at the Garden.

The Celtics extended their winning streak to seven, all since Rajon Rondo was lost for the season with a torn ACL, and ended Denver's winning streak at nine.

Terry followed his 3-point shot by poking the ball away from Andre Miller along the baseline with 34.9 seconds left.

“I know Andre well,” Terry said. “We came in (to the NBA) the same time together. Many battles. He wants to get right, he got right, I cut him off, he exposed the ball, I got the strip and was able to knock it out.”

Miller missed a long 3-pointer in the closing seconds before Terry got behind the Denver defense and scored an uncontested layup at the buzzer.

Terry made 10 of 22 shots, including five of 14 3-point attempts, to finish with 26 points, his most as a Celtic.

Pierce led the Celtics with 27 points, a season-high 14 rebounds and a career-high tying 14 assists to record his second triple-double in the seven games since Rondo has been sidelined and both came in games that lasted at least two overtimes. Pierce tied another career-high by playing 54 minutes, including the final 22.

Garnett scored 20 points and grabbed a season-high 18 rebounds and Pierce fed him for three jump shots to open the final overtime.

“The man is 50 years old,” Terry joked. “For him to make those shots that he made when we direly needed them was tremendous for us.”

“Jet's no spring chicken either,” Garnett shot back.

Garnett is 36. Pierce and Terry are both 35.

“The triple OGs,” Terry said, referring to the team's three old guys. “I'll take experience over youth and athleticism any day, especially in this league. When it's a big game, when it's playoffs, when it's the NBA Finals, you've got to have guys that have been there before.”

Pierce was 8-for-8 at the foul line before he missed what one that would have tied the game, 105-105, with 32.5 seconds left in the second OT.

Lawson then drained a 19-footer to push Denver's lead to 107-104. But Pierce made up for his miss by sinking a 3-pointer over Miller with 5.2 seconds remaining to force a third overtime.

Jeff Green sank a 3-pointer with 23.8 seconds left in the first overtime to force a second one.

The Celtics scored the first 12 points of the game and still led by 12 midway through the third quarter and by seven, 87-80, midway through the fourth.

Lawson's 20-footer with 1:43 left in regulation capped a 10-2 spurt that gave Denver its first lead, 90-89. But Kenneth Faried was called for a technical foul on the play and Terry hit the free throw to tie it, 90-90.

Green's jumper with 47.9 seconds left put Boston on top, 92-90.

Faried missed two foul shots with 5.4 seconds left. Miller grabbed the rebound of the second miss, but missed his put-back and the ball went out of bounds with 3.6 seconds left. The refs ruled it was Boston's ball, but reversed the ball after reviewing the video.

Then Lawson penetrated and banked in a shot with eight tenths of a second left to tie it. Terry's 3-pointer at the horn bounced high off the glass to force overtime.

“A lot of people are questioning the level of our opponents,” Terry said. “You know, the Lakers, not all the way right. The Clippers, weren't healthy. This is a quality win for us. They had won nine in a row. They're the hottest team in the Western Conference.”

Now the Celtics are the hottest team in the entire NBA.

Contact Bill Doyle at wdoyle@telegram.com. Follow him on Twitter @BillDoyle15.

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